Academy Awards: 'The Waiting Room' shortlisted for best documentary

Bay Area filmmaker Peter Nicks' heralded documentary "The Waiting Room" looks to be a heartbeat away from landing an Oscar nomination.

The engrossing movie, which reveals what life is like in the emergency room at Oakland's Highland Hospital, made the shortlist on Monday, with 14 other films, for best documentary at the Academy Awards. The final five nominations will be unveiled with the rest of Oscar nominations on Jan. 10.

The last few days have been particularly eventful for the Emmy Award-winning filmmaker. Last week, "Waiting" nabbed a nomination for best documentary in the 2013 Independent Spirit Awards.

The engrossing film, which takes a fly-on-the-wall approach to its topical subject, is up against: "Bully," "Chasing Ice," "How to Survive a Plague," "Waiting for Sugerman," "Ethel," "Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry," "Detropia," "5 Broken Cameras," "The Gatekeepers," "The House I Live In," "The Imposter," "The Invisible War," "Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God" and "This Is Not a Film."